German car market in 2022

Car market down again in May, production up

German passenger car market still in the red – production and export due to low levels of the previous year with significant growth.  In Germany, 207,200 passenger cars were newly registered in May, a good 10% fewer than in the same month last year. After the first five months of the current year, a total of 1.0mn new vehicles were registered, a good 9% fewer than in the same period of the previous year. Compared to the pre-COVID19 year 2019, 33% fewer cars were sold in the current year. Furthermore, the market and production are limited by a lack of primary and intermediate products, high raw material prices and general uncertainty due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

New electric vehicle registrations fell slightly in May by 3% to 52,440 units and thus less significantly than the car market as a whole. The share of electric cars in all new registrations was 25.3% in the past month. New registrations of purely battery-electric passenger cars (BEV) rose by 9%, while those of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) fell by 15%. A total of 247,900 electric cars have been registered since the beginning of the year, almost the same number as in the same period of the previous year.

Domestic orders fell in May, down 1% year-on-year. Since the beginning of the year, however, 8% more orders have been received. Incoming orders from abroad declined: German manufacturers booked 12% fewer orders than in the same month last year. Since January, 16% fewer orders have been received from customers from abroad.

After three declines in a row, passenger car production in Germany increased last month. In May, German manufacturers produced 306,500 cars (+25%). Two additional working days, which May 2022 offered compared to May 2021, had a supportive effect. Since the beginning of the year, 1.4mn passenger cars have been produced in Germany, 6% less than in the previous year. In the first five months of the current year the production level was still 34% below the one from pre-COVID year 2019. The production volume in May 2022 was 31% below that of May 2019.

With 242,900 new vehicles exported in May, exports were 34% above the previous year’s level. Over the course of the year, however, exports were down 9% and 1mn units, well below the level of the previous year.